MATCH NOTES (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State men's tennis team will look to keep its hot play going as it stays in the Portland area for another pair of matches this weekend. The Vikings play at Lewis & Clark for a night match Thursday at 6:30 p.m., and then open Big Sky play at home against Northern Arizona at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash.
 
The early season has been kind to the Vikings, who are coming off one of their best weekends under head coach Toby Krauel, as they beat Lewis-Clark State 7-0 last Friday, and then snapped a two-year losing streak to Seattle with a 5-2 win on Saturday.
 
The Vikings won every match in their 7-0 win over Lewis-Clark State, and only lost one set in singles. Sophomore Nathan Boniel, junior Ethan Lopez and senior Brent Wheeler were particularly dominant for the Vikings, as they all won their matches with minimal games dropped. Boniel only dropped one game en route to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Lewis-Clark State's Quentin Wacquez at line one, while Lopez only dropped two games en route to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Andres Bustani at line four. Wheeler, meanwhile, gave up a few more games than Boniel and Lopez, but still beat Yonas Woldetsadik, a player who beat the Vikings' Stuart Tierney at line one last season, 6-3, 6-1 at line three.
 
The Vikings then carried that momentum into their match against Seattle, which came into the match with a two-match winning streak against the Vikings. Coach Krauel entered the match winless against the Redhawks as the Vikings' head coach, in fact, but his team quickly righted that, winning all three doubles matches, and four of the six singles matches.
 
Boniel was dominant once again, as he double-bageled Seattle's Ian Clare 6-0, 6-0 at line one. Going back to his second set against Wacquez on Friday, Boniel has won three straight sets, 6-0, and has won 22 straight singles games, both streaks he will carry into the Vikings' matches this weekend.
 
Lopez also had another good match against Seattle's Matt Alderson at line three Saturday, beating him 6-3, 6-0 for his second straight win. Additionally, Wheeler beat Seattle's John Stormans 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to wrap up a 4-0 weekend for the senior, same as fellow senior Wil Cochrane, who won his fourth match of the weekend with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Seattle's Michael Schoettler at line four.
 
Saturday's Big Sky opener will put the Vikings' early promise to a test, as the Lumberjacks are coming off an appearance in the Big Sky tournament final last season. The Lumberjacks lost four players off that finalist team, however, including All-Big Sky first-team selection Jordan Gobatie. Additionally, all 10 of the Lumberjacks' players are freshmen or sophomores this season, making their match against Portland State an early test for their young team as well.
 
The Vikings open the weekend against the Pioneers, with their match set for the Lewis & Clark Tennis Dome on the Lewis & Clark campus.
 
NOTES FOR MATCHES AGAINST LEWIS-CLARK STATE AND SEATTLE
 
MATCH INFO:
Feb. 4 – at Lewis & Clark – Portland, Ore. (Lewis & Clark Tennis Dome) – 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 6 – vs. Northern Arizona – Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) – 8:30 a.m.
 
FOLLOW THE VIKINGS ON TWITTER:
Fans can follow the Portland State men's tennis team year round on Twitter at @ViksMTEN.
 
SCOUTING LEWIS & CLARK:
• The Pioneers will open their 2016 spring season against the Vikings on Thursday
• The Pioneers have a big roster with 16 players listed on the team's website
• The Pioneers went 8-8 last season, and return nine of their 12 players from that team, including All-NWC first-team selection Michael Brewer, and All-NWC second-team selections Kevin Ross and Daniel Hahm
• Hahm went 10-2 in Northwest Conference play last season in singles, while Brewer and Ross went 10-2 as a doubles team in conference play
• Sophomore Gordon Barrows also returns after going 11-1 in conference play and 13-2 overall in singles last season
• Ross and Raed Attia rank eighth in the NCAA Division III West region as a doubles team
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS LEWIS & CLARK:
The Vikings have won seven straight matches against Lewis & Clark, giving them a 7-2 lead in the all-time series between the two teams. The Vikings have won all seven of their matches against Lewis & Clark by 7-0 scores. The Vikings' win streak dates back to 2002, while the last match between the teams was in 2013.
 
SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA:
• The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (0-2) ended Portland State's season last year, as the Lumberjacks beat Portland State 6-1 t o end the the regular season
• The Lumberjacks are 0-2 so far this season after losing this season 7-0 at BYU and 6-0 at Utah
• The Lumberjacks will play at Oregon the day before they play the Vikings at Club Green Meadows
• The Lumberjacks lost 7-0 at BYU to open their season last Friday, and then followed that up with a 6-0 loss at Utah on Saturday
• The Lumberjacks advanced to the Big Sky tournament final as the sixth seed last season, upsetting third-seeded Montana and top-seeded Weber State before losing to second-seeded Idaho 4-2 in the final match
• The Lumberjacks only return four of their eight letterwinners from 2015, and lost All-Big Sky first-team selection Jordan Gobatie to graduation
• The Lumberjacks are an incredibly young team with all 10 of the team's players being either freshmen or sophomores
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS NORTHERN ARIZONA:
The Vikings are just 1-10 all-time against the Lumberjacks, but broke through against them recently in 2013, when the Vikings won 4-3 on the road. Other than that match, the Vikings have never taken more than two points from the Lumberjacks in any dual.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Vikings posted an impressive weekend, sweeping Lewis-Clark State 7-0 Friday, before exorcising some demons against Seattle in a 5-2 win Saturday. The Vikings won every match of their dual against Lewis-Clark State, and won five of their six singles matches in straight sets. The Vikings swept all three doubles matches in the dual against Lewis-Clark State, and wrapped up the doubles point with a pair of 6-1 wins at lines one and two. The Vikings were even more dominant in singles, however, especially sophomore transfer Nathan Boniel, who won 6-1, 6-0 over Lewis-Clark State's top singles player, Quenntin Wacquez. Junior Ethan Lopez was nearly as dominant as Boniel, though, as he beat Lewis-Clark State's Andres Bustani 6-1, 6-1 at line four. Senior Brent Wheeler also took down Lewis-Clark State's Yonas Woldetsadik 6-3, 6-1, a year after Woldetsadik beat the Vikings' Stuart Tierney at line one. The Vikings were even more impressive against Seattle, however, as they beat a team that had beaten them in each of the past two seasons. The Vikings topped the Redhawks 5-2 Saturday, even without their regular No. 2 singles player, Scott Goldner. Boniel was dominant once again, as he double-bageled the Redhawks' Ian Clare 6-0, 6-0 at line one. Lopez also posted another solid win at line three, where he beat Seattle's Matt Alderson 6-3, 6-0.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings head out on the road for an early season rematch with Seattle, as they'll face the Redhawks in an evening match at 7:15 p.m. on Feb. 12.
 
RISENHOOVER CHASING CAREER LEAD IN DOUBLES WINS:
With his doubles win with partner Scott Goldner against Lewis-Clark State last Friday, Risenhoover now has 29 doubles wins in his Portland State career, giving him sole possession of second place all-time at Portland State. Risenhoover now needs just three more wins to tie Alex VanDerschelden for the career lead in doubles victories at 32. Fellow seniors Brent Wheeler and Wil Cochrane also rank in the top 10 all-time in career doubles wins, as Wheeler ranks tied for fifth with 26 wins while Cochrane ranks ninth with 18 wins.
 
THREE VIKINGS IN CAREER TOP 10 FOR SINGLES WINS:
The Vikings' three seniors of Wil Cochrane, Ian Risenhoover and Brent Wheeler all rank in the top 10 all-time in career singles wins at Portland State. Wheeler ranks highest of the three players with 17 singles wins, ranking him fifth all-time in school history. Cochrane, meanwhile, has 16 career wins to rank sixth all-time, while Risenhoover ranks tied for eighth all-time with 14 career wins. Junior Ethan Lopez also ranks just outside the top 10, as he has 13 career wins, one behind Risenhoover.
 
NEWCOMERS:
The Vikings brought in three players over the offseason in junior transfer Scott Goldner, sophomore transfer Nathan Boniel and freshman Yousef Abdo. Boniel came to the Vikings with impressive credentials after he won an NCCAA national title at Campbellsville University in 2015. Boniel was named an NCCAA first-team All-American after winning the national title, and was also named to the Mid-South Conference first team last season. Goldner, meanwhile, came to the Vikings after graduating Magna Cum Laude after only three years at the University of Oregon where he played club tennis. Goldner also lettered in tennis at Lake Oswego High School during all four years of high school, and placed third at state as a senior with Lake Oswego in 2012. Abdo came to the Vikings out of Cairo, Egypt, where he was ranked in the top 10 in the U14 and U16 age divisions. Abdo also achieved a French ranking of 5/6 during his junior career, and was a two-time quarterfinalist at the Egyptian national tournament.
 
RETURNERS:
The Vikings return four of the six regular players from their lineup last season in Ethan Lopez, Brent Wheeler, Wil Cochrane and Ian Risenhoover, as well as junior Nacor Ibanez, who entered the Vikings' lineup on occasion last season. Lopez had the best season of the Vikings' four returners, as he was named an All-Big Sky honorable mention after a record-setting year in 2015. Lopez set Portland State single-season school records for Big Sky singles wins (7), Big Sky wins by a team (8 w/ Brent Wheeler) and win percentage at No. 2 singles (.727). Lopez also led the Vikings with a 17-12 overall singles record (11-8 during the dual season), and went 8-1 in Big Sky doubles matches with Wheeler. Risenhoover and Cochrane also had great doubles seasons in 2015, with Risenhoover going 7-8 with Stuart Tierney at line one, while Cochrane went 7-7 with Matt Pronesti at line two.
 
2014-15 SEASON RECAP:
The Vikings posted historic accomplishments throughout the 2014-15 season, starting in the fall when the Vikings' doubles team of Wil Cochrane and Matt Pronesti became the first team to win a main draw doubles title since 2010 as they won the second flight of the PNW Intercollegiates. Pronesti also won the singles title at the Corvallis Indoor Tennis Championships, becoming the first Viking to win a main draw singles title since 2011. Pronesti was named the Big Sky Player of the Week after his win in Corvallis, which gave him another historic feat as it made him the Vikings' first Big Sky Player of the Week since 2010. The Vikings picked up another Big Sky Player of the Week honor a little while later, as Stuart Tierney won the award after leading the Vikings to their first-ever win over defending Big Sky tournament-champion Montana with a 5-2 victory on Feb. 21. The Vikings also picked up their first-ever win over traditional conference power Sacramento State, beating the Hornets 4-3 on April 11. The historic wins led the Vikings to four Big Sky wins during the 2015 spring season, which tied the program record for conference wins in a single season.